State v. Stewart, Unpublished Decision (1-17-2003)
State v. Stewart, Unpublished Decision (1-17-2003)
Opinion of the Court
OPINION
{¶ 1} William Stewart is appealing the judgment of the Kettering Municipal Court, which found him guilty of disorderly conduct.{¶ 2} On December 20, 2001, at 7:45 p.m., Mr. Stewart had a phone conversation with his ex-wife, Cathy Gaines. In this conversation, Mr. Stewart yelled and screamed at Ms. Gaines and told her, "You're a fucking dead man." Pursuant to this encounter, Mr. Stewart was charged with a violation of R.C.
{¶ 3} Mr. Stewart was tried on February 6, 2002 in the Kettering Municipal Court. Although the court did not find Mr. Stewart guilty of domestic violence by threats, the court found Mr. Stewart guilty of a violation of R.C.
{¶ 4} Mr. Stewart raises the following as his sole assignment of error:
{¶ 5} "The trial court erred when it amended the charges against the appellant under O.R.C.
{¶ 6} Mr. Stewart asserts that the trial court erred in convicting him of disorderly conduct as it was not a lesser included offense of domestic violence by threat and therefore, the municipal court erred in convicting him of disorderly conduct. We disagree.
{¶ 7} In Ohio, a defendant may be convicted of a lesser included offense of a charged offense if the facts support such a result pursuant to R.C.
{¶ 8} The Ohio Supreme Court has established a three prong test to determine whether an offense is a lesser included offense of another, stating:
{¶ 9} "An offense may be a lesser included offense of another if (i) the offense carries a lesser penalty than the other; (ii) the greater offense cannot as statutorily defined, ever be committed without the lesser offense, as statutorily defined, also being committed; and (iii) some element of the greater offense is not required to prove the commission of the lesser offense." State v. Deem (1988),
{¶ 10} This Court previously stated that disorderly conduct was not a lesser included offense of domestic violence by force. Schaefer,supra. However, the Schaefer decision did not address whether disorderly conduct, a violation of R.C.
{¶ 11} R.C.
{¶ 12} R.C.
{¶ 13} In the instant case, Mr. Stewart does not dispute that disorderly conduct under R.C.
{¶ 14} This case is distinguishable from Schaefer becauseSchaefer involved domestic violence by force. In domestic violence by force, an offender can attempt to cause harm without alarming the victim, thereby not committing disorderly conduct. However, domestic violence by threat involves the victim believing harm will come to him and disorderly conduct requires inconvenience or alarm stemming from a threat of harm. Thus, disorderly conduct under R.C.
{¶ 15} The judgment of the trial court is affirmed.
FAIN, P.J. and BROGAN, J., concur.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.